In digital imaging systems, color management is the controlled conversion between the color representations of various devices, such as image scanners, digital cameras, monitors, TV screens, film printers, computer printers, offset presses, corresponding media, and the like. One primary goal of a color management system is to effectively deal with colors that cannot be reproduced on a target marking device. Gamut mapping algorithms map received color values of an input image to the target gamut of a color output device such that the rendered output colors remain visually consistent with the original image. There is no common method for this process. Performance often depends on the capability of the color mapping methods employed in the color management system.
Before a gamut mapping function maps the color, the method needs to initially make a determination whether a color is inside or outside the color gamut of the target output device. Accurate determination is needed because a color that is wrongly considered as outside the gamut will get mapped to a wrong region in the gamut. This can then lead to unacceptable artifacts, e.g., contours and color errors, being introduced into the image when the image is rendered on the output device. This situation can be avoided if the gamut mapping algorithm has the ability to quickly and accurately determine whether a given spot or node color is inside or outside the gamut of the target output device.
Accordingly, what is needed is a method for quickly and efficiently determining whether a given color is in/out of a gamut of a color marking device.